Insurer ACE Ltd. (ACE) said Tuesday that its third quarter profit surged from last year, driven by higher underwriting income.
The Zurich, Switzerland-based company posted net income available to holders of common shares of $494 million or $1.46 per share for the third quarter, compared to $54 million or $0.16 per share in the prior year quarter.
Income excluding net realized gains rose to $701 million or $2.07 per share from $504 million or $1.50 per share in the year-ago quarter.
On average, 19 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.97 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Gross premiums written declined 4% to $5.0 billion from $5.2 billion in the previous year quarter.
Net premiums written for the quarter fell 4% to $3.2 billion from $3.3 billion, while net premiums earned were $3.4 billion, down 6% from $3.6 billion in the year-ago quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, net premiums written and earned were flat and decreased 3%, respectively.
Underwriting income surged to $411 million from $111 million in the third quarter of 2008. Net investment income decreased 2% to $511 million. Invested assets increased 7% to $46.7 billion.
The property and casualty (P&C) combined ratio was 88.1%, compared with 97.9% in the previous year quarter..
Insurance-North American net premiums written decreased 6%, with combined ratio of 91.3%, down from 104.1% last year. Excluding the impact of prior year crop insurance, net premiums written were flat.
The Insurance-Overseas General net premiums written decreased 7%, with combined ratio of 87.4%, down from 89.9%. Adjusted for the impact of foreign exchange, net premiums written increased by 2%.
The Global Reinsurance net premiums written increased 18%. The combined ratio was 58.5%, compared with 91.5%.
Life net premiums written increased 7%. Life underwriting income increased 12% to $95 million.
For the nine-month period of 2009, the company reported net income available to holders of common shares of $1.6 billion or $4.73 per share, compared to $1.2 billion or $3.45 per share in the previous year period.
Income excluding net realized gains rose 6% to $2.1 billion or $6.16 per share from $2.0 billion or $5.81 per share in the prior year period.
Net premiums written dropped to $9.9 billion, and net premiums earned declined to $9.9 billion from the year-ago period.
ACE closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $53.27, down 16 cents on a volume of 1.66 million shares. In the after-hours, the shares gained $1.23 or 2.31%.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.